Revealed: The uninsured captital of Britain where half of all motorists have no cover

A suburb of Bradford is named today as the 'uninsured driving capital of Britain' with nearly half the motorists there driving illegally without cover.

Every second motorist (49.5 per cent) in Barkerend in the West Yorkshire town is uninsured - the highest concentration of uninsured drivers anywhere in the country according to a post-code map of the problem.

They are among 1.7 million people across the UK who are driving uninsured, according to shocking new research published today by the Motor Insurers' Bureau.

Menace to society: Uninsured drivers make up nearly half of all motorists in Barkerend, Bradford

It comes as the number of uninsured drivers soars by up to a third as a result of the recession.

It is adding £30 to the cost of law-abiding motorists' insurance premiums.

Regionally, London has the worst record for the offence, with 1 in 8 cars (13 per cent) in the capital flagged as being driven illegally because they were uninsured, the highest proportion for any region.

It is followed by Merseyside, where 12 per cent of vehicles are thought to be uninsured, and Greater Manchester at 10 per cent, while West Yorkshire and the West Midlands came in joint fourth place at 7 per cent.

The West Midlands also contains six out of the ten worst offending postcodes, with an estimated total number of 127,000 uninsured vehicles on its roads.

A profile by Bradford City Council describes the urban Barkerend ward as 'significantly more deprived' than the rest of the district - particularly in the areas of income, education and employment. Crime and criminal damage is 'well above average'.

Ethnically, it is described as 61 per cent white, 34 per cent Asian, 2 per cent mixed race, and 1.3 per cent black.

Nationally, over 232,000 people were convicted for driving uninsured last year - one conviction every three minutes. Yet six out of ten believe they will get away with it.

One survey says uninsured drivers have risen by a third as the recession has tempted some drivers - beyond the hard-core of rogue drivers - to cut corners on motoring costs by failing to renew their insurance.

Three people every hour are injured and three people every week are killed by uninsured drivers across the UK.

The Bureau holds details for about 35 million vehicles and is used by the police to seize uninsured vehicles - with 185,000 being seized in 2008, 40 per cent of which were crushed or sold.

Those caught also face a minimum of six penalty points on their licence and a fixed penalty of £200.

Yet some 1 in 10 18 to 34 year-olds are even unaware that car insurance is a legal requirement.

The figures were released as the Bureau, which compensates people involved in accidents with uninsured drivers, launches a campaign aimed at recession-hit drivers who may let their insurance lapse to reduce motoring costs.

It is being fronted by Natalie Pinkham, host of TV's 'You're Nicked' and 'Police Interceptors.'

The Bureau is funded by all UK motorists through a levy on insurers and last year paid out £380million.

There are currently an estimated 900,000 drivers under the age of thirty driving without insurance, of which nearly 600,000 are aged between 21 and 29 years old.

This age group represents 1 in 7 (14 per cent) of the total driving population and 1 in 3 (34 per cent) of all uninsured drivers.

But while the typical uninsured motorist is likely to be a male aged 17 to 29, 15 per cent of uninsured drivers fall into the 40 to 49 age range.

The Bureau says:'This ‘squeezed generation’ is particularly feeling the financial pinch, often juggling household expenses, paying for children and subsidising elderly parents.

'As a result, this age group is the most active in looking for ways to reduce their insurance costs, with 14 per cent admitting that they are considering downsizing their vehicles, compared to a national average of 8 per cent.'

Up to 500 uninsured vehicles are seized each day due to the use of automatic number plate recognition technology combined with information from the Motor Insurance Database to spot drivers who did not have cover.

Ashton West, chief executive of the Motor Insurers' Bureau, said: 'The fact that 1.7 million motorists still take to the roads without insurance is staggering.'

The number of drivers across the UK who were caught without insurance last year would fill Wembley Stadium more than twice.

Separate research carried out by moneysupermarket.com said there were 33 per cent more uninsured drivers on the road this year compared to 2008.

It added that nearly two thirds ( 62 per cent) of people think motorists caught driving without insurance should face heftier penalties.

About 1 in 5 (18 per cent) of the more than 1,800 people questioned thought the age at which people can drive should increase from 17 to 21.

While 16 per cent said either the Government or the motoring industry should subsidise younger drivers to stop them getting behind the wheel uninsured.

AA Insurance welcomes the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) ‘Stay Insured’ campaign, which is aimed at drivers who may be thinking about letting their insurance lapse on renewal or cancel it because of financial difficulties.

It alone has reported a 17 per cent increase in the number of customers paying by direct debit who have defaulted.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, says: 'Customers who cancel their cover or don’t renew run a serious risk of being stopped by the police, who are increasingly using automatic number plate recognition technology to identify uninsured drivers.

'If you have no insurance, your car will be confiscated, is likely to be crushed and you will be prosecuted. It’s just not worth the risk.'

Mr Douglas added there has been 'a sharp increase' in the number of customers being stopped because they have recorded the registration number incorrectly, leaving drivers with a £150 charge plus £20 daily storage cost to recover a car that has been confiscated.

From 2011, the Government is tightening up car insurance rules by introducing so-called 'continuous insurance enforcement', which means that cars must be continuously insured even if they aren’t being used.

Or they must send DVLA a ‘Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)’ that the vehicle is off the highway and not in use.

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Revealed: The uninsured captital of Britain where half of all motorists have no cover